Where does “bishonen” come from?

bishonen (English) comes from Japanese 美少年, from Middle Chinese 美 — beautiful.

bishonen (English): An Asian aesthetic of young men whose beauty (and sex appeal) transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation, found in manga, etc

Definitions

  1. An Asian aesthetic of young men whose beauty (and sex appeal) transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation, found in manga, etc

Ancestry of “bishonen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese美少年pretty young boy, beautiful adolescent boy
2Middle Chinese美beautiful

Words derived from “bishonen”

Every word from Middle Chinese 美 →Every word from Japanese 美少年 →